Automobile carriage.



Paten ted May I, I900.

No. 648,654. H CRAMER AUTOMOBILE CARRIAGE.

(Apphcahon filed Jan 1900.)

3 Sheets Sheet I.

(No Model.)

' No. 648,654. Patented May I, I900.-

H. CRAMER.

AUTOMOBILE CARRIAGE.

(Application filed. J an. 2, 1900.) v (No Model.) I 3 Sh eet5-Sheat 2.

No. 648,654. 4 Patented May I, won.

H. GRAMER. I AUTOMOBILE CARRiAGE.

[Application filed. Jan. 2,; 1960.

3 Sheets8heet 3 (No Model.)

/Tmu j/awaraJ 6Z-amw lgaegfor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IIOlVARD CRAMER, OF NEWBERRY, PENNSYLVANIA, A SSIGNOR OF ONE- ][ALF TO THOMAS M. ROBBINS, OF VVILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMOBILE CAIRRIAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,654, dated May 1, 1900. Application filed January 2, 1900. Serial No.106. (No model.) I

T; 11/ whom it may concern.-

Be -it known that I, HOWARD CRAMER, a (311315011 of the United States, residing at Newberry, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Automobile Carriage, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in automobile carriages, the object of my inventon being to provide a simple and efiicient mechanism adapted to start, stop,1'everse,andx ary the speed ofan automobile carriage without affecting the operation of the motor thereof, and thereby give the operator perfect control of the automobile carriage under all cononions.

To this end my invention consists in the combination ,with a vehicle driving-shaft having a friction wheel or disk and a power-shaft having a friction wheel or disk, of longitudinally and laterally movable friction spools disposed on opposite sides of said friction wheels or disks and having bearing-faces adapted to contact therewith, the length of one spool exceeding that of the other, said longer spool being disposed so that its bearing-faces are adapted to engage the friction wheels or disks at points inadvanoe of the shafts thereof and said shorter spool being disposed between said shafts and adapted to engage the said-friction wheels or disks at points between said shafts, whereby the vehicle driving-shaft may be rotated in either direction, the speed thereof varied, or the same caused to cease rotating without varying the speed or direction of-rotation of the power-shaft. r

lily-invention further consistsin the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved automobile carriage. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the running-gear thereof, showing my improved devices for starting, stopping, reversing, andvarying the speed of the automobile carriage. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of one of the axles and its spindle, showing the bearing for the axle and means for locking thewheel thereto. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View of one of the axle-spindles. Fig. 6 is adetail View of the inner side ofone of the wheel-hubs.

A represents the front axle, which is connected to the rear axle B by the reach C,

which is of the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

and consists of the rearwardly-diverging bars.

D and the fifth-wheel E, formed at the converging front ends of said bars. The rear axle or vehicle driving-shaft B is provided near each end with a friction-cone F and has screw-threads G, extending inwardly a suit able distance from the shoulder of the spindle H. On the said threaded portion are screwed an adjustable friction-cone I and a jam-nut K for locking. said cone at any required adjustment. A tubular casing L is placed on said vehicle driving-shaft near each end thereof, and each of said casings is provided with caps M, which are screwed into the ends thereof and are providedwith ball-races N for the reception of the ball-bearings O, whichoperate in said races and bear upon the frietion-cones, as shown in'Fig. 4. of the bars of the reach are secured to the said tubular casing, and on the same are lo-' cated the rear springs P of the carriage.

each spindle of the vehicle driving-shaft is placed a cog-cone R, having an angular shouldered portion S on its front side, the said cogcone and said angular shouldered portion fitting into and being socketed in a correspondingly-formed recess T in the inner end of the wheel-hub U. To the outer end of the spindle of the vehicle driving-shaft is screwed the usual retaining-nut V for the hub, the cogcone and hub-sockets serving to lockthe wheel to the spindle.

The front end of the body W of the automobile carriage is supported by the springs The rear ends X, which are carried by the usual bolster Y,

and the rear end of the said bodyis supported on the springs P. The body of the carriage may be of any preferred construction or design.

Z represents a laterally movable frame which is substantiallyoblong in shape and is provided at its corners with a series of transverse slots at, which receive the reduced portions 12 of the lower ends of the supports a,

which depend from and are secured to the bottom of the carriage-body. This construction enables the said frame Z to be moved laterally under the carriage bya suitable lever (1 at one side of the carriage and connections e between the said lever and the said on the shaft f is journaled a similar frictionspool 0',-having the treads or disks 1? atits ends.

. The said friction -spools While bein'g inovable endwis'e by their shafts rotate loosely on the said shaf ts. The power-shaft 1' is journaled'in suitable bearings. s, which depend from the body of the automobile carriage, the said shaft having a crank it and being operated by a motor of any suitable construction, either steam, com pressedair, electric, or other type of motor, as preferred. For the purpose of illustration an osoil'latingcylinder to of a motor is indicated in the drawings and also a piston-rod '12, connected to the crank of the power-shaft. On thecentral portion of the power-shaft is keyed a suitable friction wheel or disk w of suitablesize, and on the vehicle driving-shaft B is keyed a similar friction wheel or disk w, the said friction wheels or disks being located between the friction-spools, as shown in Fig. 2, and by moving the frame Z laterally either of the said friction-spools maybe thrown into contact with the said friction wheels or disks,and

, thereby communicate motion from the powerings the said frame and'friction-spools are shown in this position;

It will be observed by referencetto Fig. 2 of the drawings that the friction-spool m is longer than'the friction-spool 0. and that said friction-spool m is disposed in advance of the friction-spool 0', the treads of the latter being adapted to bear upon theportions of the friction-wheels w a; which are between the shafts B r and that the treads of the frictionspool mare only adapted to operate upon those portions of said friction-wheels which are in advance of their respective shafts. Hence, assuming the shaft 0' to be rotating, when the treads of thelonger spool 'm are in engagement with thewhecls w a: the shaft A pair oflongitudinally-movable.

' B will be caused to rotatein the same direction as the shaft r; but when the treads of the spoolo, which is located or disposed between said shafts, engage the proximate portions of the wheels 10 as the shaft 13 will be rotated in thereverse direction to that of the shaft 1".

The operation of my improved automobile carriageis as follows: Assuming the powershaft to be in rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow on the frictiomwheel w in Fig. 3, when the laterally-movable frame is shifted by the lever d, so as to cause the friction-spool oto engage and come in frictional contact'with the friction-wheels w (B, the said friction-spool will cause the rotation of the wheel '21) to be communicated to the frictionwheel as, keyed-on the vehicle driving-shaft, and the automobile carriage will be propelled -'al1ead. When the shaft f is moved forwardly by the lever is, so as to cause the front tread of the friction-spool 0. to move toward the center of the friction-wheel w and the rear tread of said friction-spool to move toward the perimeter of the friction-wheel 0c, the speed of the automobile carriage will bereduced proportionately, and when the said shaft f is moved rearwardly, so as to cause the forward tread of the friction-spool 0' to recede from the center of the friction-Wheel w and the rear-most tread of said friction-spool to approach the center of the friction-wheel m, the.

speed of the automobile carriage will be proportionately increased, as will be readily understood.

The friction-spool 'm being on the opposite side ofthe friction-wheels from the frictionspools 0', said friction-spool-m, when the frame a: is moved so as to cause it to come in contact with the friction wheels or disks and the friction-spool 0 to be moved out of contact with said friction wheels or disks, will reverse the movement of .the automobile carriage and causethe same to back, the speed of the automobile carriage in backing being varied at the will of the operator by shifting the frictionspool M forward or rearwardly on the friction wheels or disks by means of the longitudinally-movable shaft f and the lever and their connections.

It will be understood from the foregoing that my improved automobile carriage will be completely under the will of the operator at all times, that the same may be started, stopped, and reversed in the direction of its movement, and the speed thereof varied instantly simply by moving the levers (Z k and without starting, stopping, reversing, or varying the speed of the motor in any way, the said motor when my automobile carriage is in use continuing. constantly at work in a single direction.

A further advantage possessed by my improved automobile carriage is that by reason of the small number of the parts of its powerapplying and speed-varying mechanisms the same may be manufactured economically and put upon the market at a reasonable cost very ,much'less than that of the automobile carriages now in common use, and, moreover, by reasonof the simplicity of the construction of myimproved automobile carriage,the same is not likely to get out of order, and should any of the parts of the same become worn or broken they may be readily replaced at small cost. 7

Another advantage possessed by my improved automobile carriage is that any one may become qualified to operate it perfectly with little or no practice.

Having thus described my invention, what.

I claim is-- 1. In combination with a vehicle drivingshaft having a friction wheel or disk, and a power-shaft having a friction wheel or disk, longitudinally and laterally movable frictionspools, disposed on opposite sides of said friction wheels or disks, and having bearingfaces adapted to contact therewith, the length of one spool exceeding that of the other,said longer spool being so disposed that its bear- 7 ing faces or treads are adapted to engage the friction wheels or disks at points in advance of the shafts thereof, and said shorter friction-spool being disposed between said shafts and adapted to engage the said friction wheels or disks at points between said shafts, whereby the vehicle driving-shaft may be rotated in either direction and the speed thereof varied, or the same caused to cease rotating without'varying the speed or direction of' rotation of the power-shaft, substantially as described. l

2. In combination with a vehicle drivingshaft having a friction wheel or disk, and a power-shaft having a friction wheel or disk, a, laterally movable frame, longitudinallymovable' shafts in bearings onsaid frame, friction-spools on said shafts,-and movable longitudinally therewith, disposed on opposite sides of said friction wheels or disks and having bearing faces or treads adapted to contact therewith, the length of one spool eX- c'eeding that of the other, said longer spool being so disposed that its bearing-faces are adapted to engage the friction wheels or disks at points in advance of the respective shafts thereof, the said shorter spool being disposed between said shafts and adapted to engage said friction wheels or disks at points between,

ders, of the wheel-hub having the cog and angularly-shouldered recess on its inner side adapted to receive said-cog-cone and angular shoulders of said shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afifiixed' my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HOWARD CRAMER.

Witnesses:

W. H. KUNKLE, Jnssn SAVAGE. 

